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Welcome to Free Tours by Foot, offering name-your-own-price New Orleans tours. Everyone should be permitted to take a guided tour for a price they feel it was worth or what they could afford – even free!
Tours have resumed in New Orleans! You can book public and private tours on the Book Now page or contact us for custom option.
Pay-what-you-like tours are tours for every budget.
Sightseeing doesn’t have to be expensive or boring. That’s because we must be at our best at all times to ensure that your tour is interesting and of the highest quality.
If you don’t like what you see, all you lost was your time. It’s the best guarantee in the business.
We provide a platform for local, licensed, freelance tour guides to lead walking tours as well as ghost, food, bike and bus tours at no upfront cost and no solicitation, so that you may enjoy a worry-free quality sightseeing experience.
Walking tours are our forte, and we offer a number of daily and weekly pay-what-you-like walking tours of New Orleans. There’s no cost to book our walking tours, so there’s no risk for you.
You could browse the tours that we have by clicking the links below, by scrolling our public calendar (also below) or just go to our booking page to see what we have available and to book now.
We have over 4000 reviews with a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. We are so well-reviewed, that TripAdvisor seems to hide us from you (probably because they can’t sell our tours). Read the reviews for yourself.
New Orleans is a top destination for ghost and voodoo tours and we are proud to offer the city’s highest-rated tours.
We offer our French Quarter Ghost Tour daily, sometimes 2x every day.
Hear tales that will send a chill up your spine and find out what really happened when you take one of these awesome ghost tours!
Our Voodoo Tour runs daily (with the exception of Tuesdays) and runs 2x a day several times a week.
Let us help you uncover the mysteries and secrets of this misunderstood religion and learn about the role that it’s played in this city’s history.
Check out the calendar above or head to our booking page to see what is available.
And if our tours are booked out, or if our schedule doesn’t work for you, then be sure to take a look at our review of other ghost and voodoo as well as vampire tours available to you.
This city is famous for its cemeteries, which for most visitors to New Orleans are unique and exotic. There are over 50 cemeteries in New Orleans that have all or most of the graves above ground, but there is really just a handful that are reasonably reachable for most tourists. Read our guide to cemetery tours in the city.
We offer pay-what-you-like tours that visit two of them.
Get some background on tomb styles and burial practices with our Guide to New Orleans Cemeteries.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to offer pay-what-you-like tours of the swamps and plantations surrounding New Orleans. Believe us, we tried. There are transportation and entry costs that make it impossible.
However, there are some really excellent and well-reviewed companies offering swamp and plantations. Some offer tickets that combine swamp and plantation as well as bus and boat tours.
We have put together posts that compare both plantation and swamp tour companies to help you choose the best for you.
We also offer our guiding services to private groups, where we can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go to in the city. We can organize bikes, taxis, mini-buses, and coaches as well as organize plantation and swamp tours.
You can book one of our 2-hour tours, or hire us for a half, full and multiple days. We can pick you up at your hotel. Call us or email us and we will get back to you with a timely quote.
Be sure to check out our tours in New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, DC, Charleston, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and in Europe: London, Berlin, and Barcelona
This post reviews and compares the various bus tours in New Orleans, including hop-on-hop-off tours, fully guided city shuttle tours, and tours that focus on Hurricane Katrina and the city’s recovery.
The bus tours listed below are all general city sightseeing tours that usually operate with shuttle buses.
They visit various neighborhoods, including the French Quarter, the Garden District, and the Central Business District among others.
They also make stops in at least one cemetery.
Not listed here are bus tours that cover ghosts and cemeteries as their main theme. Click on the link for information on these tours.
This tour begins on Canal Street and covers neighborhoods like the Central Business District, the French Quarter, the Treme, Frenchman Street, and Faubourg Marigny as well as the Garden District.
The tour also visits the Lower 9th Ward, where you will see some examples of post-Katrina revitalization.
It also visits St. Louis Cemetery #3 (where you will get off the bus and guided through), City Park (where you will stop for a short refreshment), and finally to the Museum and Arts District, where you will see the National World War 2 Museum.
This is a great intro to the city and Cajun Encounters are probably the best-reviewed bus company in New Orleans.
Prices:
$53.50 – Adults (12 years and up)
Cajun Encounters also offers swamp and plantation tours as well as combo tours that combine any 2 of 3 that save you $8/ticket.
Recommend for: people with mobility issues or those short on time. This tour is quality, but is not a replacement of our walking tours as the only guided stop is in St. Louis Cemetery #3. The hotel pick-up is a nice touch.
Read our post reviewing all of Cajun Encounters offerings.
Much like the other companies on this list, the Louisiana Tour Company offers a bus tour around the city of New Orleans which includes a stop at a St. Louis Cemetery #3.
What sets this service apart from others is the fact that they use a minibus rather than a coach bus.
This minibus tour is also a bit longer than others with an average duration of about 3 hours, giving them enough time to do a short guided cemetery walking tour.
This tour has a respectable rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars (read reviews here). Guests indicate that the bus tour itself is both informative and fun, providing a lot of interesting details about the city.
Customers note that the cemetery tour takes place at St. Louis Cemetery #3 and lasts for around 15-20 minutes on average.
Most reviewers appreciated the opportunity to learn more about burial practices in New Orleans.
Gray Line’s Super City tour is similar to Cajun Encounters tour, where you will make only two stops (St. Louis Cemetery #3 and City Park), but the bus tour is just a bit shorter – and a bit cheaper – without hotel pickup.
Gray Line also has good reviews (for a bus tour company), and they offer several other tours for visitors to New Orleans.
Gray Line also offers plantation tours, swamp tours, and riverboat cruises as well as combo packages that offer discounts.
Prices as of 2020:
Recommended for: those looking to save money on a bus tour.
If you are really just after a set of wheels to whisk you around New Orleans, then you might even consider a Segway Tour.
The itinerary is essentially the same as what is listed in the last 3 tours. The biggest thing of note is that this tour is included for free with a purchase of a New Orleans Power Pass.
This company also has a good review profile, but they do not have as many reviews as the other companies.
Prices:
Recommended for: those considering purchasing the New Orleans Power Pass.
Mini-coach, 3-hour city tours similar to what has already been mentioned.
This company often has a Groupon Deal. Like the other tours, this company gets good reviews on TripAdvisor.
Prices:
Recommended for: those looking for a city tour and are on a budget.
There is only one traditional hop-on-hop-off bus service in New Orleans, CitySightseeing, a global sightseeing company with the familiar red double deck buses.
Prices:
1-Day Ticket
3-Day Ticket
Recommended for: people who want to have transportation around New Orleans and want to explore on their own time or in conjunction with our neighborhood tours.
Many people are interested in seeing the areas of New Orleans that were affected by the great storm of 2005, including the famous levee breaks, and to take in the rebuilding efforts.
The city has discouraged large bus tours into these areas, and in our opinion, for good reason.
However, you can still take a small group tour. Most of the bus companies listed above include parts of a Hurricane Katrina tour into their city tours, and for many people, this will be sufficient.
Listed below, however, are the tours that are specifically designed to cover this topic.
TIP: Many standard city bus tours will also cover Hurricane Katrina sights. If you have a car or bike, be sure to consider our self-guided tour.
It’s very common for companies to list combinations. The combinations are varied.
You can combine the city bus tour with a swamp tour, plantation tour or even a riverboat cruise. The savings can add up.
We’ve summarized some of the companies’ packages below.
For example, Cajun Encounters discounts their combo packages by $8/person and Gray Line offers 10% off the price of the individual products.
And if you are really planning on taking in many of New Orleans most popular attractions, then the New Orleans Power Pass may make financial sense for you.
Get our full analysis on our tourist attraction discount page.
Lastly, you should check out Groupon and Living Social for any discounts that might be available.
Free Tours by Foot is proud to now offer our free New Orleans food tours. Learn all about the city’s great foods, including gumbo, jambalaya, po-boys, beignets and so much more.
We also offer weekly food tours of the East Village, Manhattan’s Chinatown, and Williamsburg Brooklyn as well as free self-guided food tours, so that you can experience the flavors of the city at your own pace.
Since we do not offer any of our food tours on a daily basis, we have also included the food tour schedules of other companies that we trust.
The majority of New Orleans culinary tours are offered in the French Quarter, so there are several options to consider if you’re interested in learning more about the types of meals you can enjoy in this neighborhood.
In this section, we’ll provide information about our own free New Orleans food tour and a few additional outings you may want to consider as an alternative.
Whether you represent a school, a business, or a large family, our tours are perfect for any group visit. We can customize each tour depending on our audience. Our guides can go anywhere in New Orleans and beyond. Need wheels? We’ve got you covered.
Why choose us for your private tour of New Orleans? Because we are fun! We employ only the best, brightest and most energetic tour guides in the city. We’re amongst the highest rated tour companies on Tripadvisor for a reason — we’re great at what we do! Read the reviews for yourself.
This post compares the various New Orleans city passes, attraction combos, discounts, and coupons. As you look at the different options, keep in mind your budget, interests, and stamina. Everyone’s tastes are a little different, so not all packages are right for all people. Luckily, there are quite a few options. Happy planning!
This tourist pass provides two different options for travelers to consider.
The first option is an all-inclusive pass, which allows you to visit as many tours and attractions you want for just one price (think all-you-can-eat buffet).
Not to be outdone by their competition, this service includes admission to 60 attractions, a sightseeing bus tour, and a river cruise.
In addition to providing access to all of those locations, you’ll also receive a free 3-day public transport ticket which is good for buses, trams and metro service.
The Prague Multicard provides discounts on shopping, food, sightseeing, and other events. The main focus of the card is on the center of the city.
Welcome to Free Tours by Foot, offering name-your-own-price New Orleans tours. Everyone should be permitted to take a guided tour for a price they feel it was worth or what they could afford – even free!
Pay-what-you-like tours are tours for every budget. Sightseeing doesn’t have to be expensive or boring. That’s because we must be at our best at all times to ensure that your tour is interesting and of the highest quality.
FREE TOURS BY FOOT IS THE ORIGINAL PAY-WHAT-YOU-LIKE WALKING TOUR. OUR GUIDES HAVE GIVEN TOURS TO OVER 3 MILLION GUESTS AROUND THE WORLD.“
Free Tours by foot is the original PAY-WHAT-YOU-LIKE walking tour.
OUR guides have given tours to over 3 million guests around the world.